As a health conscious mommy/chef, I'm not only looking for ways to bring out delicious flavors, I'm trying to provide delicious nutrition.

Almost every rice package available tells you to cook the rice in water, but really, you can cook rice in almost any liquid. Here, I use half orange juice and half water. I think this is lovely; it makes the rice more interesting, more sophisticated, and somehow at the same time incredibly kid-friendly. This is just perfect for my boys, who don't drink orange juice on its own. Vitamin C! Loads of it! You can also use any broth or stock, apple juice, pineapple juice, and the list goes on.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, or olive oil

1 cup Basmati rice

3/4 cup orange juice

3/4 cup water

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Serves 4Combine the butter or oil with the rice in a medium sauce pan, over medium heat. Stir just to coat the grains of rice. Combine the orange juice with the water and pour it into the rice. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Once it's reached a boil, quickly turn the heat to a simmer, cover and cook until all the liquid has been absorbed, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Valentina's passion is food, and she loves spending time in her "kitchen retreat," as she refers to that room in her house. Valentina develops recipes for creative and comforting food that works perfectly for casual entertaining. Both her recipes and food photography have been featured many times on popular food websites and in print. Valentina shares her beautiful photographs as well as new and interesting recipes almost daily on her blog, Cooking on the Weekends.

Outside the worlds of food and photography, Valentina's other passion is her family (including her two young boys, her husband and her puppy, Maple.)

To learn more about Valentina and where her work has been featured, visit her About page at Cooking On The Weekends.